Racial hatred , segregation, etc. therefore becomes part of economic aspiration for people who pass as White Enough.

Certain segments of upper classes then get to deflect a lot of responsibility onto people who aren't well enough integrated into the systems white supremacist power to cloak their race antagonism in meritocracy or similar BS.

But it still took me a looong time to work how very much the ideas of "success" in my USian culture is tied to racism.

Part of it is the fact that I grew up surrounded by people who eagerly befriended the educated, culturally compatible "good ones" and cared deeply about helping "the less fortunate." They didn't want to be assholes or racists, and they definitely didn't equate wealth with morality or success...*

But the whole idea of settling down for stability and having kids in your good Blue Marriage** ended up meaning not raising those kids in the kind of diverse environment they had sought out and enjoyed and valued. Like, my parents went to work in places that look like America, where the people and issues everyone needs to have familiarity and some understanding of to try being a decent citizen are everywhere all the time...

Then they came home to this sealed-up freakish Whiteland. (And I've done even worse by my kids on that front, tho the place is a tiny bit better and some other kinds of diversity shake out differently...)

*They kind of went some opposite ways I'll try to address some time...

Ultimate challenge activated! Which is my way of saying I've made a promise to myself that I won't eat/drink certain things until Yule. Not for any diet-to-lose-weight reasons, but more for my-burn-out-and-broken-back-led-to-very-unhealthy-&-expensive-eating-habits reasons. As in, I spend about 10$ a day on some form sugar. That's a lot of money and a lot of sugar every week + means I eat less actual _food_ food because I'm full on candy. My mother and a friend of hers took me up on this challenge and we're all now cheering each other on :)

So yeah, challenge!

As a reminder to myself: Until the 24th of December I am not allowed to eat or drink the following things:- Soda- Candy- Cookies- Chocolate in any form- Chips- Pastries

The only exception to this are the 2 LARP dinners I have planned before Yule. For each day I manage to not consume such things, I will put 8$ aside and save up for art commissions~!

Stars only know why, but I now have _two_ godchildren! Pretty amazing and utterly confusing :D

Seriously, I do not know why my friends insist on having me as some kind of authority figure/role model for their children. They know I'm an atheist, so "raising them in the Christian faith" will not be accomplished. Raising them to play D&D and video games on the other hand...

On a more serious note, it's really nice to be this trust and close with people that I've ended up a godmom twice over - with two different families no less! Now comes the tricky struggle of giving both godchildren equal amounts of attention, despite one of them living in the same city as me and the other being halfway across the country...